Caps Camp, Day 6

Thursday, I headed back out to Kettler. There were already two pre-season games (losses) on the books- Baltimore was blamed on bad ice, the sort of ice that only affected one team apparently as Nashville scored two goals... and I heard no outside comments on the Columbus game so, yeah. This day was the first I saw Tomas Vokoun. He was out first with the goalie coach warming up.

Then the others wandered in to stretch out.

Once the practice got going I noticed a few things:
Ovie almost hit MoJo straight in the face on a wide shot. That was a bit scary.
Vokoun was unstoppable low, but anything mid-range or higher seemed to get past, especially on the glove side.
The lines were not sharp, passes were off.

At one point I noticed Joe B. talking to someone in the press room fishbowl, and I am 99% sure it was Calle Johansson in for the alumni game.

Washington Capitals Training Camp, Day 3

After a weekend of baseball, it was time to head over to Kettler on Monday and check out the first weekday of Caps camp. For some reason I didn't think they'd use up both rinks so I brought my skates along and dressed for the possibility of landing on my rear end. So I felt less than my best when Caps TV announcer Joe Beninati walked by. He is always dressed up. I ended up saying nothing of substance and then apologized for saying nothing of substance so I never said anything of substance even though, of course, two minutes later streams of intelligent observations and questions came to mind. So tack on another tongue-tied, less than impressive meeting with a local celebrity to my list.

Another lesson learned- don't leave your ipod on the rink wall because Matt Hendricks was so happy he scored he jumped against the glass and down it went to the luckily for me, carpeted floor. Mathieu Perreault also felt the need to toss a puck to the glass at the level of my face. I have been a fan of his for a while now, but I may have to reconsider.

By now most of the people I saw playing in Group B have been cut, but then they were working hard:

Just before they wrapped up, Group A started on the Capitals Rink so I moved over there. Schultz made his way from B to the locker rooms through the main door right in front of me, towering in his skates. Then Perreault, Hanson, Joel Ward and Braden Holtby decided to cut through the center doors but had to wait for a break in action.

A shot of Braden Holtby for the Holtby's Honeys Twitter/Tumblr:

The big names were in this group:

First close-up shot of DJ King for the year.

I don't know why, but he is my favorite. Maybe because I'd be a fighter too. Probably because he has a lot of hustle and energy in practices and never gets the chance to play regularly and I hate when people get screwed over for no real reason.
Wednesday addition: Alan May singled him out for his hard work in the first pre-season game. I was glad to see that.

The goalie on the near end of the rink was Philip Grubauer. I was impressed with him during the rookie camp and he seemed to be holding his own just as well against the big guys. He had a strong glove and the only shots that got past him for the longest time were by DJ and Ovie high and stick side.

Does Sasha care? Honestly, I don't know.

 I think the main question is, does Boudreau care? That one I'm still working on.

I Celebrated Strasmas

...and the Marlins got the present. Boo.

I had plans for after the game, so they decided to make the game ten hours long <exaggeration>. I mean seriously, though. There were two Presidents Races the game was so long. I'm sure beards grew over the course of the game.

 Disco hammerhead and a blurry Roger "the Shark" Bernadina. It was pretty cool that I was in left on Friday and so was Roger. When I had tickets for right, there he was as well.

Yes, he was just as exciting to see in person as I had hoped.

Unzoomed shots for perspective of how awesome the seats were. I didn't pay for a seat all weekend. I love contests and promotions.

Gratuitous Michael Morse shot, even though if he hadn't grounded into a double play when a fly ball was all that needed maybe the game wouldn't have been so long and I could have made it to see my Homecoming date from tenth grade's band play in Clarendon.

I did get on the Jumbotron, with Disco shark, after the Ramos home run, but I have no idea how it looked because I kept my eye on the camera and didn't even think of looking at the scoreboard. I don't know if  that should count as an accomplishment or an opportunity missed.

Thank You, MASN ! Part Two

As expected, I was a bundle of nerves heading to Nationals Park. Traffic and public transport set up unnecessary delays and then when the inside of the stadium was closed off until 5:30 and I was supposed to be at the media entrance at 5:30, I was a pacing mess. Of course, there was no need to worry. as I made it there in plenty of time and had to wait for the other winners, but I am not the best with luck.

There were more people milling around than I had figured, and Mr. Rizzo was talking to the Marlins manager so we had to wait, but that was fine because Drew Storen was right there. Well, not as right there as the picture would make it seem- that's all zoom, but close enough to turn if someone were to call his name, which no one did. Opportunity missed.

 There are some nice heads of hair on the Nationals. I'm impressed.

 I didn't know Andre Dawson was a coach on the Marlins. Another winner was a huge Expos fan and was so eager to meet him.

A shot of me waiting to speak to Mike Rizzo. This would be the disastrous first time I did when he walked up to me shook my hand and said, "Hi, I'm Mike Rizzo." and I said, "Oh, I know." Thinking I'm an idiot, he moved on. Luckily I was able to redeem myself slightly.

Let me say right here, this is a charming man. He had the keen listening skills, staring in your eyes as you talk thing down. I may have gotten a little swoony as he rested his hand on my hip for our picture...

Right before this picture I was able to say that I admired the work he was doing and that I couldn't wait to see what he got for Ian Desmond in the off-season. He laughed loudly and said that was a trick question. Later I got him to sign my program as well- luckily I had a pen because my ever-present Sharpie was missing from my bag, and then it was time to head back off the field and to the seats.

I managed to vent my Desmond rant to the usher of the section, saying a yardstick had more range than him, etc. so that was out of my head, but then I saw that Michael Morse was out for the day. The left field seats were not completely wasted though because Roger Bernadina was there instead, so Reginald the Shark was not brought in vain.

Reginald is actually half shark and half puma- a long story of playing Frankenstein with beanie babies...

If asked, I think Screech is at the top of my list of Nationals I'd like to meet, but this was as close as he got.

The less said about the actual game, the better. A shut-out to the Marlins? Really? Still, it was a fantastic experience and great seats. I am very grateful for the opportunity.

Thank You, MASN! Part One

Yesterday I found out that I won the MASN social media weekend contest where I get to meet Nats GM Mike Rizzo before tonight's game. We have two of the best GMs around with him and GMGM, Caps man George McPhee, so I am completely excited. I am fluttery and nervous for who knows how long I am actually going to be able to speak to him, if I will at all. So I'm going to put it all down here so it can implant more firmly into my memory.

What I'd like to say:

Mr. Rizzo, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm a great admirer of what you've done for the team even though I haven't been a close observer for long. I love the park, I am here every chance I get. You seem to have assembled more talented young men than . I can't wait to see what you get for Ian Desmond. I believe a yardstick has more range and his questionable choices, poor fielding and outright errors have benefited the opposing teams more than his recent hitting surge has benefited the Nationals. As nice as a guy as Davey Johnson seems to be, I have not agreed with a lot of his lineup decisions especially when it comes to the bullpen. If he's up for managing next year, that's up to you, but I can't help but wonder how someone else would take on the logjam at first and the hopefully vacant shortstop position.

What I probably will say:

Hi, nice to meet you... <stare at ground and attempt to untie tongue>

We'll see how it turns out. Pics and stories to come after the meet-n-geet tonight and Strasmas tomorrow.

Caps Rookie Camp Day 4

I can say I've now been on the ice with Bruce Boudreau.

It's not something I'm going to have on my gravestone or even mention to many people, but I can say it and it won't be a lie.

The plan had been to catch a little practice, skate, then watch the scrimmage, but upon arriving at Kettler Capitals Iceplex, the rookies were on the "public" rink. It was a nice change, almost 360 degrees of right on the less-scuffed glass viewing. I found myself a spot and took a few shots.

As unexpected as that was, the real thrill was walking through and looking up and seeing Assistant Goalie Coach Olie Kolzig up on the balcony. If I had a better camera you'd know right away that's him to the left of the exit sign in the picture below, but in 2009 it was a nice model...

Since the scrimmage part of the camp wasn't scheduled until forty five minutes later and the team taking over the public rink meant that open skate was being held on the Capitals rink, I figured I had time to get my laps in before the day ended. So I laced up my pink laces on my ancient Bauer skates, while thinking I probably got them before Ovi even started school, and headed off to where the big boys skate.

Who knows how many laps I actually did because I was so distracted checking out everything from the new perspective, I know I lost count several times and picked the lower number every time I forgot. The ice felt nicer but it was good to see they also had a dark and bumpy patch right where the zamboni comes in just like on the other rink, so those of us on the other side aren't the only ones who have to deal with that. I was peeking in the press conference room, down the hall behind the bench, into the press room where Katie Carrera and Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post were working. I tweeted later that I wanted to wave to them but I felt like it would be too loserific, but Tarik actually answered and said I should have. Oh well.

At my 37th lap, I gave into my loser self though when Coach Kolzig walked down the bleachers right by me. He stared like I was an idiot, just as I figured, but I didn't care. Lap 38 and Coach Woods skated across to the door behind the bench. On lap 39, Coach Boudreau did the same. Just as well that we weren't intersecting because I've been feeling less than generous towards him lately.

Cameras and Cold Stone- Ballston must be Coach's favorite place to be.

Everyone seemed to be coming off the ice at the same time. I caught the players headed off as I was packing up my stuff.

I hung around a while to see if everything was truly over or if it was just a break, and found out that the scrimmage part of the day had been greatly reduced and tacked on to the end of practice. I had been too slow and missed it. However, on the elevator down, Coach Evason came in and then saw Boudreau again in the food court.

I had been prepared to watch and see if anyone was clearly breaking out from the others, but truthfully I didn't know any of them past Eakin and Orlov and Grubauer, so I probably would not have contributed much. Regular camp starts Saturday which will be jam packed so I will swing by and check it out on Monday with my trusty little red camera.

Washington Capitals Rookie Camp- Day Two

Monday marked the second day of the 2011 Washington Capitals Rookie Camp. The day before, captain Alex Ovechkin joined the team for drills. Monday, he was seen observing from the office windows above the rink with GM George McPhee, and other Caps, including Mike Green, DJ King and Mike Knuble, were seen on the far side of the bench speaking to those on the ice.

 -Mike Knuble watching practice

In a change from regular season practice, mainly because I'm sure you couldn't tell the players without a program, the skaters helpfully had their names on the backs of their jerseys.

I stayed on the close end of the rink, so I was not able to watch the other goalies. Phillip Grubauer, who stayed on the right side seemed to be impenetrable for the first third, had a weak glove side in the middle part but then came up strong again.

There will be a scrimmage Wednesday before the group travels to Philadelphia to play the Flyers rookies Thursday night. The main pre-season training camp begins on Saturday.

-Bruce Boudreau, preparing to half-assedly coach the next generation. No need to adjust on the fly during drills, so no worries today!